Church Today
In 2017 Barna research reported the
number of born again Christians has declined in recent years. Barna used three
criteria to evaluate who is born-again: (1) if a person has confessed their
personal sin, (2) asked Jesus Christ to save them, and (3) believes they will
live eternally in Heaven only because of His grace toward them. Barna reported
that the proportion of adults who meet the born again criterion has been on a
downward trajectory since 2010. As you see the chart on the screen, for about
20 years from 1991 through 2010, an average of 40% of the adult population in
the US qualified as born again. Since that time, however, the number has been
declined. The 2017 average indicates that just 31% of adults are born again. If
we analyze demographic data by age group, this trend would be going to be worse
in the near future, because America’s older generations are more likely to be
born again than are younger adults. That means, as older Americans pass away,
the population proportion of younger adults will increase, continuing to reduce
the number of born again Christians in the years to come.[1]
Beyond these numbers, a real crisis of faith today is this: Basic Christian beliefs are now considered
strange, irrelevant, extreme, and in some cases, dangerous by mainstream
American culture.[2]
But in fact, this is not new. In Jesus’
time Jesus and his followers were often rejected, hated, persecuted and considered
a threat. Right before today’s passage Jesus was rejected in his hometown.
People were impressed by his words and deeds, but then they were offended by
him (3). And right after today’s passage we see John the Baptist is arrested
and later he would die a martyr (14-29). In this unfavorable, hostile setting Jesus
sends out his twelve disciples. And he still sends us out today to our challenging
world, but with the words of hope and encouragement.
You Are Not Alone!
The first message is this: “You are not alone!” Verse 7 says, “And
he called the twelve and began to send them two
by two…” They were not sent out by themselves. The gospel is a partnership. The church is a partnership. We are called to be with
each other. We are called to be sent out together. It takes two. It takes a
community to build God’s church, God’s kingdom.
Who
will hold the ropes? William Carey, who is known as the father of modern
missions, told his Christian friend Andrew Fuller before embarking on his
missionary journey to India, “I will go down into the pit, if you will hold the
rope.” Andrew Fuller did hold the rope. He organized, raised funds, prayed, equipped
and sent missionaries. In the meantime he lost his first wife and eight of
their eleven children. But he kept holding the ropes. We need people like
Andrew Fuller who would hold the rope when needed. Whether we go down into the
pit or stay outside of the pit, both sides must hold the rope tightly. We need
each other. We are in this together.
This partnership is well described
in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s progress. As
the main character Christian embarks on his pilgrim journey, God sends his
travel companion Faithful to him. After Faithful dies a martyr in the town of
Vanity, God sends another new companion Hopeful to Christian, so that he could
make the journey to the Celestial City. Christian’s wife, Christiana, who
ridiculed Christian at first, but later repents and leads her four children on
pilgrimage. God sends to Christiana good companions, Mercy and later Great
heart. There are times when we feel like we are the only one left, we are the
only one who holds the rope. Even that moment we are not alone. I love Lanny
Wolfe’s hymn, “Someone Is Praying for You.” The lyrics go something like this:
Someone is praying for you
Someone is praying for you
So when it seems you’re all alone
And your heart will break in two
Remember someone is praying for you
Here someone might be your spouse,
or your Christian friend. But ultimately, someone is the Holy Spirit who prays
for us with groans too deep for words (Romans 8:26). Someone is Jesus who is
with us always. Let us remember our Lord Jesus himself saying, “I am with you
always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20b). We are not alone!
You Have Authority!
The second message of encouragement
is, “You have authority.” As Jesus sends out his disciples, he gives them authority
over the unclean spirits (7). He gives them power to deal with the evil
opposition. So today we don’t just go out with our own strength and wisdom and
try to attract more people to the church. We are sent out with divine authority.
We go out in the name of Jesus, as his voice and action, with his divine power.
Matthew 28:19-20 is well known verses as the Great Commission to all followers
of Jesus: “Therefore go, make disciples… baptize them and teach them.” But we
need to remember the reason why we are able to do all this. In verse 18 Jesus
says, “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Therefore,
go!” In other words, because Jesus has all authority and gives us authority, we
can go out to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them with that divine authority.
Remember authority is given to you. Take that authority, and go out and live with
Jesus’ authority!
You Have a Story to Tell!
The third message of hope and encouragement
is this: “You have a story to tell.” Verse 12 says, “So they went out and
proclaimed that people should repent.”
To repent means to turn – turn around in our attitudes, motives and objectives
of life and turn to God. To repent means to live life God’s way, not my own
way. Repentance is the first step toward the kingdom of God. It’s the starting
point in our relationship with God. There is an important point here. Jesus commands
his disciples not only to preach repentance, but also to live a life of
repentance first. They travel light (no extra bread, bag, money, and so on), endure
hardships, are kind to unkind people, pray for them to cast out demons and
anoint the sick with oil. So through their God-centered lifestyle of repentance
(“Not my will, but your will be done!”) the twelve apostles lead people to
repentance. In 1 Corinthians 4:11-13 another faithful apostle, Paul, shares his
lifestyle of repentance in this way: “To this very hour we go hungry and
thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard
with our own hands. When we are cursed,
we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it. When we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to his moment we have become
the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.” Paul was hated by many. But
ironically, by living this lifestyle, he did point and lead many to Christ.
Be the Gospel!
We, as a church, is called to be a
repentant community. We are called not only to preach the gospel, but also to
be the gospel. As I close, I would like to share the story of Sundar Singh, a
Hindu convert to Christianity, who became a missionary to his people in India.
Late one afternoon Sadhu was traveling on foot through the Himalayas with his
travel companion. It was bitterly cold. Suddenly, they stumbled upon a man who
had fallen and badly hurt. The companion said, “Don’t stop. Let us hurry on
before we, too, perish.” Then without looking back, he set off down the path.
Sundar Singh lifted the man on his back and carried on his journey. Soon it
began to snow. With great difficulty, but with the help of God he made his way
through the deepening snow and darkness. As he was approaching a village, he
saw another frozen dead body, that was his companion, who had left ahead by
himself. Later Sundar Singh reflects and says, “The exertion of carrying him
and the contact of our bodies had created enough heat to save us both. This is
the way of service. No one can live without the help of others, and in helping
others, we receive help ourselves."
We live in challenging times as a church.
Like Sundar Singh, we see great needs within and without the church, but we don’t
feel like we have power to carry on. It seems difficult days are ahead of the church.
But there is hope! Let us be encouraged by the words of Jesus Christ and the example
of his disciples. We are not called to be successful, but to be faithful. Let
us faithfully hold the ropes. We are called to be partners to each other. Children
are not our burden. Seniors are not our burden. Missionaries are not our burden.
People in need and in distress are not our burden. We are all called to be partners
to each other. We are given to each other. Let us go out two by two. And in the
name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit let us carry those who need help
on our back, love them, lead them to Christ. By doing this, we will live. “How
beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” (Rom 10:15b)
[1]
George Barna, “Survey: Christians are not spreading the gospel,” http://www.georgebarna.com/research-flow/2017/11/30/survey-christians-are-not-spreading-the-gospel
[2]
For more details, please refer to Lynn McMillon’s “Beyond Numbers, A Real Crisis
of Faith,” https://christianchronicle.org/beyond-numbers-a-real-crisis-of-faith/
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